Sunday 10 June 2018

Extremely Jolly Teams


Saturdays will never be the same. Prior to Charlie returning to the UK my Saturdays were rather civilised. Wave goodbye to the clients, polish off the rest of the bacon and back to bed for a sleep. Not so this week. I headed out with a very cheerful team from here at Middle and collected a somewhat jaded (and bruised) team from Pana. On arrival in Murmansk everyone was very positive about their weeks and despite not being as productive as we have seen in the other years everyone had worked hard and been fairly rewarded.
 
James H-B had a great week at Pana
I found Bill and Ceri in a somewhat monosyllabic state and quickly deduced the magnitude of their end of season party. To their credit they had brought me the supplies I had requested and it was sad to say goodbye. There were still a fair few of the Gremikha clients (the lower Yokanga camp) in the departures hall and so it was good to catch up with them and hear of their 75kms boulder scrambles to get to the pots and pools where monsters lie. Paddy V was elated but exhausted.

Hugh M returns a spanking fresh grilse on Simmon's
 Having done change overs last year there were many familiar faces at arrivals and it made for a quick and easy handling process. Sasha was a wonderful help as ever and we had Middle and Kitza on the helicopter in double quick time. Fishing here was pretty much as standard last night with Jason S catching 2 fish and a total of 6 fish. What was positive was there were 2 fish caught from Bear which was little fished last week so well rested. Pana reported 4 fish but seemed more concerned with the rugby result and Kitza only reported that the helicopter whiskey took it’s toll on a few of the team (see image below)
 
Mark L fuelling his helicopter ride
Reflecting on last week we had 518 fish over the 4 camps and this was in the face of extreme weather and some really bizarre conditions. Here at middle the river came up 6” over the week and Pana was reporting hail and sleet and gusting wind most of the week. Water temperatures dropped and air temperatures plummeted but still we managed to do a bit better. There are still fresh fish coming in and whilst they might have raced through Lower there still providing Kitza, Middle and Pana with a gentle stock. I don’t ask much but if we could keep the water level and fish run constant for the next few weeks it would be a lovely way to end the season.
 
Pana camp from the air
This morning is mild with a gentler wind and we are planning to be back at Peartiha for lunch. I have a resident bird expert in the form of Chris S and so I am looking forward to hearing what he has found and showing him my pictures of the Ruffs. Water temperatures are back to 11 degrees and we only lost quarter of an inch in the last 24 hours so floating lines and small doubles are the norm with a few people on an intermediate poly leader or tip. A red fly seems to have been the popular choice and I suspect now it will bear fruit as everyone adopts this. Bucking the trend was Julian G who caught his fish on a green highlander. I’m now off to Simmon’s to see how things are going and take some more photos. A truly beautiful part of the river.

Beanie doing what she does best

Jack Selby